Disclaimer: I do not own Cedric (unfortunately) or the Trio. All of them were borne of JKR's wonderful imagination.

Carefully, systemically, her fingers broke the muffin into nothing but crumbs, scattered across the otherwise-empty plate. Her eyes, bright with anger and unshed tears, stared at the muffin, but her mind was elsewhere, replaying the memory of the argument she had had not five minutes earlier with her infuriating best friend.

"Hey, now, what did the muffin ever do to you?"

The voice was light and casual, a far cry from the furious tones Ron had used earlier. Hermione glanced up from her broken muffin to find herself staring into Cedric Diggory's amused hazel eyes. It took her a moment to realize he had spoken to her.

"I—nothing," Hermione broke their eye contact to look down at her plate and finally realize that her muffin was now only crumbs. "Why?"

"Just curious." Cedric pulled out a chair and slid in opposite her. "Are you sitting here all alone because of that row with Weasley?"

Hermione dropped the remains of the muffin she was holding and scowled at the mention of Ron. "You could say that," she admitted. "You could also say that I'm sitting here because he's a frustratingly oblivious, stubborn prat, which would work just as well."

Cedric laughed. "You're not one to mince words, are you, Granger?"

Hermione shrugged, preferring to let the topic drop. "Where's Cho?"

"Bathroom. The Giggle Gaggle she likes to call friends dragged her off," Cedric answered, grabbing a half-empty pitcher to pour himself a glass of juice.

"Giggle Gaggle," Hermione repeated, his nickname for Cho's friends bringing a small smile to her lips. "So, what made you decide to come over here, then?"

"You looked lonely," Cedric said nonchalantly. "I saw Karkaroff drag Krum off. Any particular reason behind that?"

Hermione shrugged again. "He said something about important Durmstrang business."

Cedric raised an eyebrow. "So, you're sitting here destroying a poor, innocent muffin which hasn't done anything to you because your date's off having some super secret conversation with his headmaster and your best friend decided to be a jerk?"

"One of my best friends," Hermione corrected, not feeling particularly charitable towards Ron. "And yes, that's exactly why I'm sitting here destroying a 'poor, innocent muffin'."

"Well, that seems boring," Cedric said, twirling his near-empty glass around in his hands.

"And what are you doing that's so not boring?" Hermione shot back.

Cedric grinned, apparently unfazed by her retort. "Point taken. I suppose we should both get up and do something, huh?"

"Did you have something in mind?" she asked curiously.

There was a prolonged silence, broken by Cedric. "Would you like to dance?"

The word 'why' was on the tip of Hermione's tongue, but she decided to forgo asking about the reason behind his request, mostly because she was tired of sitting there, and Cedric seemed uncharacteristically hopeful that she would agree.

"Yes, I would," Hermione answered finally, offering him a smile. He returned it with a grin of his own and stood, extending his hand to help her up before leading her onto the dance floor where they joined the multitude of students dancing to The Weird Sisters' latest hit.

"Don't look now," Cedric began once they were on the dance floor, his breath tickling the side of her face, "but Weasley's glaring at us." He twirled her around so she could look over his shoulder and see that Ron was indeed shooting daggers at the pair of them, though Harry flashed them a quick smile.

"Let him glare," Hermione said, returning her attention to Cedric. At the moment, her troubles with Ron seemed to be someone else's. She would rather just enjoy the dance with Cedric. "It's not like he can do anything about it," she added with a smile.

Cedric grinned. "True." He lifted up his arm so she could twirl beneath it. "He likes you, you know."

Hermione looked up at him, frowning. "Who? Ron?" At his nod, she made a skeptical noise. "He's got a funny way of showing it."

"I don't think he's realized himself," Cedric told her. "But it's fairly obvious to anyone with eyes."

"Is it?" Hermione looked doubtful. "Because at times, I wonder if he wants me to be his friend, let alone girlfriend."

Cedric spun her around twice for the fast-paced chorus. "Why do you think he'd be so stupid about you and Krum? For someone so smart, it's surprising you missed something like this."

Hermione mulled over his words for a moment. "Well, if he likes me, he should have said so," she decided firmly. "And not ask me out as only a last resort."

Cedric laughed. "Spoken like a Gryffindor witch," he said admiringly. "Mum was in Gryffindor too," he added. "You're a lot like her, actually. Scarily intelligent brunettes, that is."

"Intelligence isn't scary!" Hermione protested, though there was a smile on her lips.

Cedric raised an eyebrow. "Hermione, I think you know more than I do about most subjects."

Hermione had to laugh. "Well, that's hardly my fault!"

The song abruptly changed to a quieter, midtempo one and their dancing slowed to the appropriate rhythm. Hermione realized that, over the course of the dance, their bodies had gotten closer, to the point where she could feel his breath on her forehead.

"Cedric," she began quietly, the playfulness of their previous conversation gone. "Do you ever get the feeling something bad is going to happen in this tournament?"

Cedric frowned in confusion. "Like what?"

"I don't know." Hermione found it hard to put into words the anxiety she felt over the tournament. "It's just…this whole thing is so dangerous. It makes me worry, especially about Harry. He's got so much to deal with on top of all this…"

"Hermione." Cedric's voice was firm as he freed a hand to tilt her face up. "Harry's going to be fine. So are you, and all your other friends. I promise."

"And you?" Her voice was barely above a whisper now. "Are you going to be fine?"

There was a pause. "I will. I promise."

Hermione only hoped he would keep his promise.

He couldn't.

Author's Notes: Wow, I really didn't mean for this to have such a sad ending. But I couldn't help it, the plot bunny got away from me! That said, I don't think this is my best work, but I do adore Cedric/Hermione, so I hope you guys all like it as well! But now I need to go write something happier, to make up for those last two lines.... Review and tell me what you think!